Friday, 31 May 2013

loveliescrushing have
an impressive pedigree that dates back to the early 90s when albums
such as 'Bloweyelashwish' and 'Xuvetyn' brought their brand of low-fi
noise rock to the public's attention. For 2013 the now duo of Scott
Cortez and Melissa Arpin Duimstra return with the band's tenth
full-length studio album, and first to feature Melissa's distinctive
vocals in over a decade.

'Ghost Coloured Halo'
is an ambient, highly textured and satisfyingly noisy take on the
band's original shoegaze influenced sound. Ambient guitar is filtered
through an array of pedals and looped into cavernous soundscapes
while Melissa's haunting vocals softly draw the listener's ear. While
the fact that this was all recorded live on analogue 4-track
recorders, in one long take, makes their dreamlike tonal odyssey all
the more impressive.

The strongest pieces on
the album 'Darklit And Crow', 'The Wounds That Won't Heal', 'Ghost
Coloured' and 'Blacklight Thundering Halo' are prime examples of how
blending melody and malevolence should be done. The songs slowly and
subtly shift the mood across the album to create a perfect soundtrack
for introspective listening. But best of all, for the most part the
songs are of an easily digestible length meaning that those new to
the band won't be too daunted at the prospect of

Reoccurring sonic
motifs serve to tie the songs together. Effects such as heavy reverb
give the tracks a nice central drone, and in some cases some
semblance of a rhythm. While the pronounced tapes hiss, present
throughout, gives the album and almost black metal edge in some
places.

'Ghost Coloured Halo'
is a sumptuous exploration of post-rock soaked in analogue ambience
and hallucinatory drones. The sheer skilfulness of the live sound
manipulation here goes to show why lovelicecrushing is a name
synonymous with shoegaze.

Impressive as it is
though, it still isn't quite the expected revelation, especially when
considering the diverse range of ambient acts around today. It does
feel like they're holding back somewhat. However it is still a very
strong outing for them.